The Grand Princess

TGP Chapter 46: Down to the Bone

“It’s not that you are being stubborn—it’s just that you are just not strong enough.”
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Original title 反骨 Fǎngǔ – (physiognomy) referring to the protruding bone at the back of the head, regarded as a sign of a rebellious or even treasonous nature.

Considered to be part of one’s nature, deeply ingrained down to the bone.

Li Rong slept for a night at the Princess’s mansion and received a summons from the palace the next morning.

She had already made preparations beforehand. As soon as the people from the imperial palace arrived, she followed those attendants into the palace at once. She knew in her heart that she had forcibly interfered with the Empress and Consort Rou’s plans yesterday, so this matter could not simply end like that.

On the way, she thought about how to respond to the Empress’s questions, and soon she arrived at the palace. As soon as she entered Wei Yang Palace, she saw Li Chuan kneeling on the ground and the Empress seated on her throne high above, clutching her forehead as if she was having another headache. The people in the palace hall had already withdrawn, leaving just mother and son, one sitting and the other kneeling in the center of the hall. Li Rong smiled when she came in and saw the two of them like that: “What is going on here? It was like this the last time I came, and it’s no different this time. Are you two quarreling again?”

“You still dare speak?!” Shangguan Ya heard the sound of Li Rong’s voice and loudly shouted: “Kneel down!”

If Li Rong was still young, she would have started panicking a long time ago when she heard Shangguan Yue getting angry like this, but fortunately, her temperament was already that of someone at fifty years of age, so she calmly knelt down and asked with a smile: “Why has made Mother Empress so angry today?”

Shangguan Yue heard Li Rong feign ignorance as if not understanding a single thing. She raised her head with a cold look in her eyes, facing Li Rong with a fixated stare: “You and I are mother and daughter. Do you have to keep pretending like this?”

Li Rong saw Shangguan Yue’s cold expression and put her smile away as well.

“What were your intentions last night?”

“I should be asking Mother Empress this,” Li Rong calmly said, “What were your intentions, Mother Empress?”

“Bengong’s intentions are all too clear!” Shangguan Ya shouted: “Bengong wants Shangguan Ya to be Crown Princess! I already told Chuan’er to choose Ya’er’s incense, so why did you blindly jump into this mess? He is the Crown Prince!” Shangguan Yue raised a finger and pointed at Li Chuan, glaring at Li Rong as she angrily shouted, “He acted willfully, making a fool of himself, so are you going to follow his example and make a fool of yourself too?!”

“This is erchen’s fault,” Li Chuan heard Shangguan Yue scolding Li Rong and immediately kowtowed on the ground and hastily said: “Jiejie didn’t have anything to do with it. Erchen already said that erchen was the one who asked jiejie for help. Please ease your anger, Mother Empress.”

Li Rong heard this and understood. Li Chuan wanted to take responsibility for everything and said that what happened last night was something that he had asked her to.

Shangguan Yue became even more furious when she heard this. She immediately stood up and paced back and forth on the high platform, scolding as she walked: “Such a great opportunity last night and yet wasted like this because of you! Are you mad or are you still that foolish? Your Father Emperor has been keeping a finger on your marriage with A-ya. We were all prepared last night. As long as you chose A-ya’s sandalwood, your uncle would have had someone come forward and force a marriage decree on the spot, so what did you choose your sister’s incense for? Do you know how much effort it will take to have another chance like this again?!”